Restaurants

Here in Palo Alto, the UpTake office has been suffering through a major construction project around the corner. This means large trucks block all the good parking spots and we are subjected to loud banging and vibrating jackhammers on a regular basis. But, just the other day, we realized there is a tremendous up-side to all this chaos…where there is construction, there are also lunchtime taco trucks!!!

To anyone who doesn’t believe that glory can be found in a well-made taco, then you haven’t eaten one from this taco truck.  The tricky thing is, it only parks for a 10-20 minute window in the spot near our office (a location I will keep disclosed for selfish reasons). You have to be on the ball to catch them. Luckily, our CEO and founder at UpTake, Yen Lee, is a man on the ball! He rallied the team and rushed us out the door at 10:55 on Friday in order to catch the hard-working ladies who run the truck. It was a well-executed assault. We rushed them just as they were closing down, grumbles in our stomachs and expectant looks on our faces. They were nice enough to open back up for us as well as to pose for a couple of photos.

friendly taco truck worker

taco truck delights

The selection on the truck is varied. You can get burgers and breakfast burritos in addition to tacos.  But, after tasting their tacos, I don’t know why you would order anything else. I chose one bean and cheese and one “al pastor“. The small corn tortillas are doubled up so that you avoid spilling your taco contents on the floor. These tortillas were freshly made and delightfully chewy with a hint of smokiness. My re-fried beans (the REAL kind, most likely made with lard) and cheese were wonderful and topped with a fresh salsa verde. The al pastor was juicy, smoky and flavorful with plenty of lime juice squeezed on top. I grabbed a couple of radishes and smoked jalapenos as garnish as well as a cold bottle of coke (the glass bottled kind made with cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup). Nothing could have made me happier except for the fact that these little wonder tacos were only $1.50 each!

The 10:50 am taco truck is definitely going to be a repeat experience.  If you find yourself in Palo Alto some morning around this time, check out the UpTake twitter account, we might just update you on the truck’s whereabouts!

Photo Credits to Heart of Oak, Alison Osborne and Yen Lee